The Second Garden
by TheHinkyPanda
Summary: Gadreel wants redemption. Castiel wants Heaven to re-open. And all the angels who have died, don't want to stop existing. So when an anchor is created to keep the dead angels tied together until Heaven opens again, Gadreel finds a way to redeem himself: protect the anchor at all costs.
1. Chapter 1

**The Second Garden**

**Chapter One: Wrath or Compassion**

He misses the Garden, the simplicity of it all. The world that he has fallen into is loud, abrasive and violent. The wild nature that began in the Garden has been stamped down and trampled over by cities, buildings and harsh lights. He can barely see the stars in the sky. The sounds of life that used to fill his ears in the Garden are now drowned out with what the humans call civilization.

Gadreel misses Eden. He can see remnants of the living, breathing masterpiece in fleeting moments but they disappear far too quickly. It depresses him, being faced with just how far reaching his mistake has been. That is why when Sam Winchester ejected him back to his original vessel, he continues in the job his vessel had chosen. He secludes himself in a dark bar that reeks of stale alcohol and cigarette smoke. It is the furtherest thing from Eden he can find and he uses it as a less restrictive prison.

It's closing time, almost four in the morning. He's going through the mundane tasks of cleaning the bar when a piece of paper slides in front of him and his stomach drops. It has been weeks since Metatron has visited him. Weeks of human routine and learning how to live in this world gone mad. He had hoped Metatron was done with him since he was no longer inside of Sam. The disappointment at being wrong is overwhelming.

"What is this?" he asks, despite knowing what it is already.

"Another name on your hit list." Metatron leans on the bar. "It took me a while to track down the rumor and confirm it. But I did."

Gadreel wonders if Metatron went through the hassle of confirming a rumor, why didn't he take care of it himself? Disgusted with himself and feeling sick to his core, he picks up the piece of paper and opens it.

"Addison Weaver." He stares at the name: Addison. It sounds very nonthreatening, pleasant even. "What has she done?"

Metatron scoffs. "Does it matter?"

Gadreel wants to tell him yes, it does matter. If he is to take her life, he deserves to know what crime she has committed. And why it is greater than his own. But he doesn't know how to ask the question without being insubordinate so he keeps his silence and continues to wipe down the bar. To his surprise, Metatron sighs in annoyance.

"Fine, if you're going to pout about it. One of the rogue Rit Zein came up with the genius idea to make a human into an angel anchor here on earth."

"An angel anchor?"

Metatron rolls his eyes. "Yes, Gadreel, an anchor. Since Heaven is closed, so is the recharging station for angels who were killed in their vessels. There's no place for them to go until this anchor was created. Now, any angel who dies here on earth becomes tethered to this…human," he spits out the word as if it's an oath.

"But isn't this a good thing? A place for our fallen brethren to go and continue to live?" Perhaps Abner is one such angel that is now tethered here on earth. He has a chance for forgiveness once more.

"Think about that though. Hundreds of angels that die here, that become stuck to this nothing of a human, anxious to return to Heaven." He shakes his head in dismay. "It's an army waiting to power up and attack us." He shrugs half-heartedly. "That is if the human is even capable to withstanding that many angels tied to her."

Perhaps they should attack us, he thinks to himself. What good are they really doing? He was forced into killing his own brothers to gain a place in Heaven. How is his reputation supposed to be restored by a bloodbath? Two angels, a prophet and now an anchor. What is next?

"You do realize how important it is to find this girl and kill her? Our entire plan of rebuilding Heaven rests on her ceasing to exist."

He nods silently, his mouth too dry to answer.

"Good." Metatron raps sharply on the bar. "She's in Denver, Colorado. I'll be back in a few days to see how it went."

Gadreel nods once more and Metatron disappears from view. He finishes up drying the glasses and wiping down the kitchen area behind the bar before climbing up the back stairs of the establishment to the small apartment above the establishment. The sun is barely over the horizon, staining his living space with hues of pinks and purples. Cars are starting to increase in their number as businesses are opening. The sounds are deafening but the windows are already shut.

He pulls out the slip of paper again and stares at the name once more. Addison, the Hebrew meaning of the name is "earth." The irony is not lost on him.

And he suddenly misses the Garden even more.

* * *

All Addison Weaver wants is to go back to being invisible. But she was the hometown hero, Denver's miracle woman. Her face has been splashed across the local news reports and papers. Everyone greets her with hugs, smiles and tears. She hasn't paid for a meal or even a cup of coffee in two weeks. Who knew all it took to be a celebrity was to wake up from a coma?

She stumbles through the dark cemetery, glancing her shin off of a headstone. If her mouth wasn't full of whiskey, she would have cursed. But the fact of the matter is very simple: she's drunk, hurting and MIA from her own welcome home party. Someone with half a brain will find her eventually but hopefully not before she accomplishes her to do list.

The moon is full, making it almost as bright as day. But Addy doesn't need any light to find her family's gravestones. She has walked the path to the trio of markers every day since she was released from the hospital. Tonight, even in a drunken stupor, she's able to easily find her way to the burial plots. She takes her time at each one, raising the half empty whiskey bottle to each headstone.

"Robert Jonathan Weaver. The best husband a wife could ask for. The best father two trouble making twins could ever have. When you said we could do anything, by God, you meant it."

She wipes her arm across her face, wiping away the tears until she see her mother's name.

"Cynthia Lynn Weaver. The kind of wife and mother that makes Martha Stewart look like a hack. Funny, pretty and with an indefinite amount of patience." She has to take another swipe across her face. "I never went a day without knowing I was loved."

She stands in front the last marker and can't bring herself to say anything. Words catch in her throat and tangle in her chest. She can barely read the name etched into the stone but she knows it as well as she knows her own.

Micah Robert Weaver. He had been with her from the very beginning. They were co-conspirators and partners in crime. They knew what the other was thinking and were unstoppable when they put their minds to it. She raises the whiskey bottle to his tombstone and is only able to utter two words.

"My twin."

She finishes off the bottle and sets it down on her brother's grave before taking a step back so she can see all three markers. Her family is all gone and it is just too much to bear alone. And she isn't going to be alone any more. Taking a deep breath, she is surprised to find the tears have stopped. Her drunken stupor lifts and for the first time since she has woken up in the hospital, she can breathe.

Putting her hand into her coat pocket, she pulls out the revolver that she has hidden there. She looks at it sitting heavy in her hand, the moon gleaming off of the barrel. It was her father's gun, the one he always kept in the bedside table in case someone broke in during the night. He was prepared for that kind of threat but not the one that eventually took him, his wife and son. There was no preparing for what happened that night with a drunk driver on a suspended license.

"Miss Weaver?"

Addy turns, expecting to see Matt Johnson, her ex-fiancé who married her best friend, coming to drag her home. But it's not Matt who's standing there. It's a complete stranger, tall and built like a football player. She has no time for someone wishing to offer their sympathies and congratulations on her surviving something she had no business surviving.

"Go away, please."

"You are Addison Weaver then."

She swings around and waves the gun. "Mister, when a girl says go away, she means it."

The fool actually takes a step towards her and suddenly she's sober and clear minded. She aims the gun level to his chest, hands steady and aim accurate. He pauses and holds up his hands.

"I do not want-" and he stops mid-sentence, as if he's struggling for the words to finish his thought.

"You don't what?"

"I do not want to hurt you."

"Well, that's good but I'm about to hurt you if you don't back up." He finally takes a few steps away from her and she lowers the gun slightly. "Who are you?"

Again, he looks like he's struggling with words and Addy has enough. "You know what, I don't really care. Just get lost buddy. In fact, there's a big party happening at O'Malley's Bar, about ten minutes down the road. Go, have fun."

She turns her back to him and goes back over to her brother's grave. She thinks the stranger has left when he speaks again, softly and in an oddly clipped fashion.

"The celebration is for you, is it not? A celebration of your survival of a car accident and your recovering from a three year coma."

"You a reporter?"

"No."

"Then you've just come to stare at the town freak?"

He shakes his head. "You are not a freak."

Addy squints, trying to take in the details of this strange man. He didn't have a car or else she would have heard it, which means he walked into the cemetery. He isn't dressed for the cold Colorado night in a leather jacket, sweatshirt hoodie and t-shirt. His face was broad, square and had way too many expressions for her to even attempt at deciphering in her mental state.

"Alright, look, strange guy, I'm out here having some bonding time with my family and would like to be left in peace. So please, go away."

"I don't...I don't want to leave you here."

She sits down on the top of gravestone. "Why not?"

"Because you're going to harm yourself."

"I carry this for protection from creepy guys that like to stalk me in graveyards."

"Not tonight you didn't. You carried it here so you can use it yourself."

Addy's cheek twitches and her eyes burn with tears again. "How did you know that?"

Before he can answer, another person appears next to her seemingly out of thin air. It startles her so badly, she jumps up and drops the gun. She stumbles, the backs of her knees catch a headstone and she topples backwards over it. She flails for something to stop her fall and catches the tip of a trench coat but it's not enough to stop her. Her head connects to the marble base on the grave marker and everything goes black.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Second Garden**

**Chapter Two: The Anchor**

The clock radio suddenly comes to life and starts blasting Katy Perry's "Waking up in Vegas" as Addy blindly reaches for the snooze button. Her head is killing her and she feels completely disoriented. Matt must have found her at the graveyard after the drinking binge and drug her back home. She is never going to live this one down.

"Wakey, wakey Sleepy Beauty."

Addie burrows further into the blankets. "Go away, Matt."

"Fraid it's not Matt."

The blankets are yanked away from her and the sunlight blinds her. There's someone walking around her room but she can't place who his is. Her eyes eventually adjust and it is not just a strange person standing at the foot of her bed that causes her alarm. She's in her childhood bedroom, complete with single bed and Little Mermaid paraphernalia from floor to ceiling.

The man is roughly her height, wiry and looking not quite amused. For all his seriousness, there is a hint of mischievousness at the corner of his mouth and in his eyes. His almost amber eyes. Addy groans and falls back onto the too small bed.

"I'm having that Twilight dream again, aren't I?"

"Not quite. And I take offense at being associated with that disaster." He kicks the bed. "Get up. We don't have much time."

"For what?"

"For me to explain to you what's going on."

Addy pushes herself up on her elbows. "I know what's going on. I'm having a hang over induced nightmare and you're just my subconscious reminding me that I shouldn't ever drink again. Duly noted. Now leave."

"Oh sister, you're not even close."

He snaps his fingers and she finds herself standing on a beach, the ocean rolling in gently on the wide, sandy expanse.

"What the-"

"Not a beach person? Me either," he snaps his fingers again and they're peering over the Southern Rim of the Grand Canyon.

"Afraid of heights?" he snaps again and they're now in a field surrounded by massive rock face mountains and pine forests. She can hear a waterfall in the distance.

"Yosemite."

He smiles crookedly. "Very good."

Things start falling into place in her mind. Her childhood room, a beach in San Diego, the Grand Canyon and now Yosemite. "These are all from my memories as a child."

"Now you're getting it."

A cold feeling descended on her. "I'm in a coma again."

"So close, but not quite. You're unconscious at the moment. Not deep enough to be in a coma but very much not awake."

Addy reaches out and touches the tops of the tall grass. She can feel them tickle her palms. The crispness of the outdoors and pine trees smell just as strongly as she remembers them back when she was ten. "This feels so real."

"They are real. These are memories of things that really happened to you. Memories hold much more weight than you realize."

She remembers their stay in Yosemite. They stayed in a cabin with bunk beds and she fell out of the top one, breaking her arm. She remembers Micah retrieving her battered panda bear out of the back of the car and tucking it in her good arm to try to stop her from crying while the rangers called for the onsite EMTs. She could still feel his shoulder resting against hers.

"Memories hurt though. I don't want to think about this." She waves her hand in his direction. "Come on, snap me somewhere else."

"No. You need to stay here, remember the good things. The love of family, the joy that comes from it. Memories only hurt if you look at them from your present state. You need to remember them in the moments when they happened. That's how good memories stay good."

"Why are you telling me this? What does it matter to you how I remember things?"

"It matters because I, and many others, need you to live."

"I'm one very unimportant person. I was gone for three years and the world kept turning and people kept living. What's the thing that makes me more special than my brother, or my mother or my father?"

He holds her gaze in a very serious look. "Because you survived. You woke up and that changed everything."

Addy starts to ask him what he means when the outdoors drops away from her and she is standing in a hospital room. She immediately recognizes herself laying comatose in the bed, machines beeping and tubes hooked up to her. There's a woman standing over with blonde hair and dressed in a suit who reaches out and places her hand on the still Addy's head.

"What's happening?"

"This is how you woke up," he answers. "That woman, her name is Jael. She's an angel."

"Angel? As in fluffy white wings and halo angel?"

He halfway shrugs. "More or less."

Addy turns back to the scene in front of her, expecting to see a beautiful occurrence. How many people could say they were healed by an angel's touch? But then the yelling starts. Addy watches as her body arches off the bed with a blinding white light. She is screaming as if being killed, her hands curled into claws and eyes wide open, filled with fear.

As soon as it starts, it ends. The light disappears and takes the angel with it. Addy's body goes back to being motionless on the bed as doctor's and nurses come rushing into the room and the scene fades into the kitchen of her childhood home. She regards her guide with a leery eye now.

"Are you an angel too?"

"Archangel, actually." He reaches for her mother's cookie jar, pulling a couple out and eating them.

"Michael?"

He laughs. "No, no. I'm Gabriel."

"Gabriel the Archangel." Addy shrugs and sits down at the kitchen table. "Well, why not? So what was the other angel doing to me exactly?"

"She was writing sigils on your bones."

Addy isn't sure if she likes where this is going but there isn't much to done about anything at this point. "What exactly are the sigils for?"

"They're to make you our anchor."

"An anchor? For angels?"

"Dead angels, yes."

"Why-"

Without warning, her eyes open and she's conscious. At first, all she can feel is the floor beneath her, cold and smooth. The scent of old motor oil and gasoline assaults her nose and causes her head to riot in a splitting headache. When she opens her eyes, she sees the empty rafters and broken out windows of the abandoned garage behind the cemetery.

There is a flickering light dancing on the walls and she turns her head to see the strangest sight: three men she doesn't recognize standing around a ring of fire where the man who had approached her in the graveyard was standing. The trio of men seemed upset, the focus of the anger seemed to be in the center of the fire.

The thought of running crosses her mind but it is quickly replaced with the memory of the strange man saying he wasn't there to hurt her, that he was willing to stay with her so she wouldn't hurt herself. She feels around in her pockets to find her gun has been confiscated or is still laying on the ground in the cemetery. She has no way of defending herself against whoever these men are so she uses the only weapon she has: confidence.

She tries to walk in a straight and steady line but stills feels very wobbly from the alcohol and the head injury. As she comes closer to the group, the man in the fire circle establishes eye contact. But for all the emotions she saw flicker across his face in the graveyard, he remains unreadable and completely expressionless now. But his acknowledgement of her presence turns the trio's attention to her. Standing up as tall as possible and trying not to wince in pain, she gives them all a solid nod.

"Gentlemen."

It was the man in the trench coat that speaks first. "Are you Addison Weaver?"

She is an angel anchor, whatever that means. She assumes it is something important which is why she has all these people looking for her. There could be more on their way and she doesn't know who to trust. So she puts her hands in coat pockets and doesn't answer. "Who are you all exactly?"

The man farthest from her points to himself, the man standing standing closest to her and then to the trench coat. "Dean, Sam and Cas. You Addison or not?"

Addy looks at the man trapped in the fire ring. "And him?"

"Bad guy, don't worry about him," Dean answers.

"No offense but I'm a little worried about everyone in the room right now."

"Alright, look," Sam steps up. "We're looking for Addison because she's..."

She can tell he's searching for the right word that won't make any of them sound insane. She hated to break it to him, it was a little too late for that. "An angel anchor?"

"You know?" Cas asks.

Addy nods slightly. "Just that. I don't know what it means."

"It means you're in danger. From people like him," Sam motions to the man in the circle.

"He said he wasn't going to hurt me."

Sam hands her a piece of paper. "We found this in his pocket."

She opens it and finds her name written on it. "Okay."

"It's a hit list from another angel, Metatron."

"What? Like the transformer?"

Cas interrupts them. "We don't have time to explain. There are other angels on their way and I don't know what they want. We need to keep you hidden for now."

"I'm going to need a little more explained to me before I run off with the likes of you three to some safe house. For all I know, you guys are the bad ones."

"Go with them." The trapped man finally speaks up. "They will keep you safe."

Addy turns to Dean and raises an eyebrow. "Some bad guy you trapped there."

Dean waves a short, metallic sword in her direction. "You don't know the history here and we don't have the time to explain it to you."

"How convenient."

"So what's it going to take for you to come with us?" Sam asks.

It is a legitimate question and Addy doesn't have a good answer. She's tired, hungover and emotionally drained. Quite frankly, she's hoping this too is just a terrible dream that she'll eventually wake up from. She really doesn't want to get involved in whatever is happening between the four men. But she reasons she's already part of it, whether she likes it or not.

"It's too late," Cas says and draws his own strange sword, exactly like Dean's. "The other angels are here."

Addy turns to see a woman stepping through the broken door of the garage. She's dressed in a gray suit, heels clicking on the concrete. She's wearing dark framed glasses, blonde hair swept up neatly on her head. And Addy knows exactly who she is.

"Jael."

She smiles sweetly but with an edge. "Aw, you remember me."

Dean and Sam look over at Cas who has placed himself between Addy and the newcomer.

"Jael was the Rit Zein that was assigned to my garrison. Why would you do this?"

She pushes the glasses up her nose. "Because our fallen brothers and sisters needed a place to go. Do you know what happens to angels who don't have a charging station? They cease to exist. All those angels who died in the fall, there's no bringing them back. Now, there's a place for the one who die here and the ones who were already in the charging station to go."

"A human though?"

"Angels can't charge angels. We needed a conduit."

"Some humans can't contain an angel."

Jael's mouth twists unpleasantly. "Tell me about it. This is my third vessel."

Cas frowns. "So what makes you think one human can be an anchor for hundreds of dead angels?"

"One human can't. That's why I need watch this anchor closely and make a new one when she's close to death." She tilts her head to the side and motions towards Addy. "Come along, dear."

Addy feels like she's going to throw up. The idea of trusting the four men behind her suddenly has some appeal. "No."

Jael frowns. "If you insist on doing this the hard way, so be it."

The bay doors open and a group of what Addy suspects are other angels enter the garage. She counts ten but there could be more. Cas, Sam and Dean form a barrier between her and the approaching angels. She retreats back to the man trapped in the fire ring.

"You said you weren't going to hurt me." She fixes him with a steady gaze. "Did you mean that?"

His eyes keep darting to the upcoming confrontation. "I did."

"If I let you out of there, will you help?"

"Fighting that many angels is going to be difficult. I am...not at full strength yet."

"Then we'll have to be smart about this." The voices are starting to rise and those odd looking swords were all drawn now. Addy finds a piece of pressed wood and carries it over to the fire ring. "If I drop this down, will you be able to get out?"

He nods. "I will."

"It doesn't sound like they want me hurt."

"They don't. Your protection is every angel's priority right now."

Addy can't believe what she is about to say next. "Good. Then you're going to take me hostage and demand everyone leave then."

His brow furrows. "I don't want-"

"To harm me, yes, I know. That's what I'm counting on. Do you have one of those metal things too?"

He holds up his own weapon, a stunned look still on his face.

Addy takes a deep breath and drops the board across the flames. He's on her immediately, one arm restraining her and the other holding the blade against her throat.

"I am sorry about this," he whispers in her ear.

Addy swallows and hopes, for the first time in weeks, that she will survive the night.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three: Run**

Gadreel's mind is reeling. Thousands of years of silence, pain and disgust from his brethren finds him staring through holy fire at a human who is looking at him as if he can help her. Even when Dean Winchester was asking him for his help to save Sam, there was a cautiousness about him. But Addison Weaver has no caution, no doubt. She believes him when he says he won't hurt her, she trusts him enough to break the holy fire ring and release him.

This is his second chance. He can not erase the things he did but he can certainly try to make up for them. Protecting the anchor, being the hero she thought he was, is a good place to start. He just wishes it could be done in another way other than holding an angel blade to her throat and feel her stiffen in fear even though this was her idea. He had been designed for protection, not for the violence he had been committing.

The Winchesters and Castiel are not the ones he's concerned with driving away so he makes eye contact with Jael. He remembers the Rit Ziens from his times with Thaddeus. His tormentor would sometimes have one on hand when he decided to get artistic. He had begged one to smite him once, to end it all but she had refused. They were the more compassionate of angels but staring down Jael, he could only see a bully determined to have her way.

Until she sees the blade against Addison's throat.

"Stop!" she shouts and all the angels she brought with her do as they're told.

Castiel and the Winchesters turn to see what has caused Jael's change of mind and it is Dean that sums up their expressions with an exasperated "sonofabitch."

"What do you want, Gadreel?" Jael asks.

Hearing his name from another angel takes him by surprise. But he realizes that she is a healer, of course she would have known who he was if she had spent any time in Heaven's prison. "I want you to leave."

Dean bristles. "Not happening, pal."

"I wasn't talking to you," Gadreel glances at Dean before turning back to Jael. "I was talking to her. You and your followers need to leave now."

Jael frowns but motions for her group to leave. Reluctantly, they retreat out of the garage.

"Now you need to go."

Jael shakes her head. "I can't do that."

Gadreel takes a deep breath and tightens his grip on Addison, who lets out a whimper. He clenches his jaw to keep the disgust he feels about his actions from showing. But Addison must be playing her part convincingly because Jael starts to look panicked.

"Wait! Just wait," she cries desperately. "I made her, alright. I made her the anchor. I know what that means for her, the things that she's going to experience. She needs guidance, I can offer that."

Addison emits another strained noise but Gadreel can hear the true emotion behind it: fear. Castiel and Winchesters look unconvinced but Addison taps his arm, a request to let her go now.

"I'll give you the angel blade," he whispers to her and she nods.

Her hand opens and he places the handle in her palm before stepping away from her, his hands raised. Sam and Dean don't hesitate to back him into the fire ring and close the gap with more holy oil. Addison stands where he left her, her grip half hearted on the angel blade. It is the best he can do for her, letting her hold a weapon even if she didn't know how to use it. However, all it takes is Jael's quick approach and Addison tightens her grip and points the blade in the angel's direction.

"I want answers, alright?" Addison says. "But I need a chance to digest some of these things. I need some time to myself."

"We can't let you go out there by yourself," Jael insists.

"Fine." Addison points to Gadreel. "He can come with me."

Dean scoffs. "What part of 'bad guy' did you not understand?"

She glares at Dean. "What part of him holding a knife to my neck and not hurting me did you fail to see? I told him to do that to clear the place. Right now, he's been the only one here who's had the opportunity to harm me and hasn't. I'm going home for a few hours to shower and wrap my head around this. You want me to have a babysitter, fine. I get to pick who it is."

Gadreel watches as Addison kicks the wooden board back down into the fire, giving him a way of escape again. But Dean is looking murderous and Addison is scared and tired so he stays where he is. Sometimes a cage is the safest place. But it is Sam that provides a third choice and breaks the standoff.

"Here, take these." He hands Addison a set of handcuffs and a key. "They have angel traps engraved in the metal. It'll protect you from him in case his motives are...not the best."

"Sam-" Dean starts but Sam cuts off his brother with a frown.

"Well, your way wasn't getting us anywhere." He looks down at Addison. "She wants to know she can trust us. So let's give her reason to."

Addison takes the cuffs from Sam and turns towards Gadreel. He can see it in her eyes the worry and the apology. She really doesn't want to do this. She does trust him. And its because of that he willingly steps out of the fire and puts his arms out towards her, letting her snap the cuffs around his wrists. Suddenly he's cut off from angel radio again. His power is tempered immensely to the point of making him feel ill. It's like being in Heaven's prison all over again.

Addison lays her jacket over his hands to hide the cuffs. "I'm sorry."

That takes him aback more than the cuffs. He had apologized for thousands of years, screamed it at the top of his lungs and no one listened. No one believe him. Having someone apologize to _him_ has never happened before. And he refuses to do what everyone else had done to him: he answers her.

"It's okay." He tries to smile but the sick feeling of being cut off from all the angels makes it difficult.

Castiel steps forward. "You really should have one other person go with you. Someone that can actually defend you if needed."

Addison glances over to him before addressing Castiel. "Are you volunteering?"

"Yes."

"Fine. But that's it, no one else."

* * *

The sun is just starting to come up by the time Addy opens the front door of her home. She still struggles with the idea of living in the home that was actually her parents but she has no place else to go. She is thankful no one sold it while she languished for three years in a hospital bed. It was Matt and his family that maintained it for whatever the future held. Even though she is grateful for that, another part of her wishes for a completely fresh start.

"This is a lovely home."

Addy turns to see it was Cas who had spoken. "Well, it's certainly not Heaven."

He shrugs slightly. "No. It's much warmer than Heaven. More comfortable."

Addy looks at the other angel, Gadreel is what Jael called him, who is still cuffed. "Really?"

He shakes his head slightly as if he doesn't have an answer for her so she turns back to Cas who continues in his chatty mood.

"Heaven for humans is perfect, peaceful. Not so much for the angels."

Addy pulls out a pitcher of orange juice from the refrigerator and pours herself a glass. "Place of business for you guys?"

"Yes, very much so."

"Do you want anything to eat or drink?"

They both shake their heads.

"Okay then. Can you play nicely while I take a shower?"

Cas frowns at her. "Play what?"

"Monopoly."

"I've never played that game before."

Addy doesn't know whether to laugh or cry at the two confused looks she is getting. "Can you two get along while I take a shower?"

"Yes, we can," Cas agrees. "Though, do you have a basement?"

"Why?"

Cas' words seem to dry up so the other angel speaks up. "For my own safety. Dean and Sam Winchester are not very...forgiving towards things that I've done."

Addy narrows her eyes. "What did you do?"

Cas finds his words again. "He killed the Prophet."

"The prophet? Why?" She has no idea who "the prophet" is but she isn't sure what an angel anchor is either.

Gadreel shifts uncomfortably, the cuffs clinking against each other. "I was told he was a threat and needed to be eliminated."

"Who told you that?" Cas demands.

"Metatron."

Addy waves her hands. "Alright. I'm starting to get overwhelmed again. Yes, I have a basement. If it's in everyone's best interest, go ahead and take him down there but no pushing him down the stairs or beating him up or anything like that."

Cas frowns but nods. "Very well."

Addy opens the door that leads downstairs to the basement and waits just in case Cas decides to not abide by his promise to play nicely. It sounds fairly quiet so she goes up stairs and closes the door to her room, locking it. After a second thought, she takes her desk chair and lodges it underneath the doorknob.

She hadn't been lying when she said she needed time to sort these things out for herself but the questions just kept piling up. She goes to her closet and grabs a duffle bag, throwing clothes into it as quickly as possible. Once that task was done, she retrieves another bag from the back of her closet. This one is well-worn canvas and held even more questions for her.

When the family attorneys had been going over the will after she woke up, there were special instructions surrounding what was in the bag. She had been reeling from the discovery that her family was all gone that she couldn't remember what they had told her concerning the bag's contents. She had looked in it once but quickly closed it again as it all looked like junk tossed in there: containers of salt, lighters, knives and a bunch of old leather bound books. It was mostly like crap from a yard sale but the lawyers had handled it with care. Now, with two angels in her home and more on the way, she wondered if it contained more than she thought.

She also isn't prepared to head out on her own. She goes into the bathroom and turns on the shower so Cas won't get suspicious as to why she has barricaded herself in her room. Micah's room is on the other side of the bathroom and she slips in there. She tries not to think about her brother as she gathers up some his clothes and shoves them into his backpack he would take when he hiked. She doesn't know if the clothes will fit the angel in the basement but she takes them anyway.

With the three bags ready to go, she opens Micah's window which faces the back of the house. She drops all three into the bushes and hopes no one noticed. After no one comes to investigate, she climbs out of the window and climbs down the trellis as she had done hundreds of times in high school. When she drops to the ground, she's directly outside the basement window. Peering in, she sees that Gadreel is alone, sitting on one of the spare dining room chairs and still handcuffed.

Addy lifts the window and breathes a sigh of relief at finding it unlocked. But when she pokes her head through, Gadreel looks ready to shout so she puts her finger to her lips and he closes his mouth. She slips through the window and pulls the handcuff keys out of her pocket. She unlocks the cuffs and catches them before they fall to the ground. She motions over to the window and Gadreel, confused at the entire course of events, does as she wants and moves towards the window. Addy leaves the cuffs and key on the chair and goes back out the window. She hands him her brother's backpack and her bag of clothes before picking up the mysterious bag and slipping through the privacy fencing along the side of the house. Once they were a block away from her home, Addy finally speaks to him.

"I don't suppose you have a car by any chance."

"I do."

"Really?" She doesn't know why that surprises her but it does.

"It is parked over by the cemetery."

At least they were headed in the right direction. "Cemetery it is."

They make it back to his car, an older black sedan of some sort that is parked alongside the road. He opens the trunk and they drop all the bags in before getting into the car itself.

"Where are we going?"

Addy snaps her seatbelt on. It's the first time she's been in a car since Matt drove her home from the hospital and she tries not to throw up. "We're on the run, Gadreel. It doesn't matter where we go just as long as its far away from here."

He turns the key and the car starts but he doesn't put it into gear. "The Winchesters are good men. They can and will help you if you let them. And Jael seems to know all about what it means to be an angel anchor. I'm afraid I'm less…informed on these matters."

"I have an angel who's on the other side that can explain things to me when I pass out or go into a deep sleep." She twists her hands around the nylon strap. "And I have you to protect me, right?"

He nods slowly. "Yes, you have me to protect you."

"Then let's go."

Reluctantly, he puts the car into drive and they start driving in a Northern direction. Addy presses her cheek against the glass and gives in to her tears until she falls asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: Bloodlines

Sam knows when they pull up to the suburban home and see Cas sitting on the front porch, it is not going to be good news.

"Ten bucks she split," Dean says as he gets out of the car.

Jael grimaces. "You better hope she hasn't."

Sam really doesn't like the sound of that. "Why not?"

"One of the perks of being an angel anchor," Jael explains. "She's immune to angelic power. Smiting, healing, teleporting, all of it won't affect her. I never should have let her out of my sight."

"That explains why I couldn't track her." Cas' frown grows deeper. "She took Gadreel with her."

"Perfect," Dean opens the unlocked front door. "That's just perfect."

Sam follows him into the house. "How do we know she took him and it's not the other way around?"

Cas holds up the empty angel cuffs with the key. "They were both sitting on the chair downstairs. Only Addison had the key."

Jael crosses her arms. "And you let them alone together?"

"No," Cas sounds offended. "I put him downstairs in the basement and she went upstairs to shower and be alone. I never saw her come back downstairs. I just went up to check on her and found the door to her room locked and the shower running but she was gone."

Sam goes through the kitchen and into the living room where there's a large deck off the back of the house. He opens the sliding glass door and steps outside to get a look at the side of the home. It's just what he expected.

"Trellis?" Dean asks.

Sam nods. "Trellis. Looks like she dropped some bags into the bushes by the basement window too."

"She went prepared then." Dean turns to Jael. "You've been tailing her since she woke up. Any ideas where she would go?"

Jael shakes her head. "She has no more family to go to. Her fiancé is married to her best friend who ironically where having a baby shower the day she woke up. She has no one to latch on to right now."

"Explains why she dialed in to Gadreel." Sam notices there are a lot of places in the living room where family pictures used to be. "How long as she been awake?"

"About two and half weeks."

That isn't nearly enough time for her to grieve the loss of her family. Removing pictures of her lost loved ones wasn't the sign of a healthy mindset. "We need to find her and fast."

Dean is busy going through a desk that was in a den area of the living room. "Seems to me, she made her choice and isn't our problem anymore."

"Actually," Cas speaks up, "she is the angel's problem."

Sam frowns. "But if she's an anchor for dead angels, wouldn't the angels want to protect her?"

Cas shakes his head. "As you know the majority of angels aren't that fond of humanity. Having a human anchor will be seen as an insult at the least, an abomination at the worst."

"Being ejected from Heaven should change some of their minds though," Jael countered. "I think there will be more angels willing to protect her then destroy her."

"Are you sure of that?" Cas asks.

Jael looks doubtful and that makes Sam's mind up. "So we find her then and we protect her. How did you choose her to be the anchor?"

"The same way angels choose vessels," Jael answers. "I picked a strong bloodline."

"Bingo," Dean holds up a stack of papers. "Credit card and bank account numbers. She has to eat and sleep and with these, we can track her."

Sam raises his eyebrows. "So much for not being our problem."

"I'm more interested in kicking the ass of her road trip buddy. The angels can worry about Thelma, I want Louise."

"I agree with Dean," Cas says. "Gadreel was sent to kill her and he may have by now. The sooner we find him, the greater chance we have of saving the anchor and finding where Metatron is."

"Alright," Sam starts for the front door, "I'll grab my computer and see if they've withdrawn any funds yet."

He has to admit as he walks down the front front steps of the house and looks around the upper class neighborhood, he feels the urgency to find Addison more than Gadreel at this point. From what little he can tell from the house and its location, she had lived a nice life until now. Family, friends, enough money to at least be comfortable. Now she is alone, hurt and tangled up in the affairs of angels.

Situations like this never ended well.

He also needs to make sure to find out more about the Weaver bloodline from Jael. Perhaps there is still family out there for Addison.

* * *

Billings, Montana isn't a sprawling city but Gadreel hopes it's large enough to hide them for the night. He pulls on some of the knowledge and experiences he had when Sam was his vessel which lands them in a seedy bar with an equally seedy motel behind it for the night. His concern for Addison, who hasn't said a word since they left Denver, is starting to change into exasperation.

It's either her silence or the constant ringing of his phone that is the cause of his emotional spike. He pulls out the vibrating phone, sees it is Metatron calling again for an update and he silences it once more. Four missed phone calls. Metatron is starting to get suspicious. Addison eyes the phone that he set down on the table with suspicion of her own.

"Is that the guy who wants me dead?"

The time of lying is over. He's so tired of the deceit and the subterfuge. He had been a good and honorable angel and he intends to be that again. The first step is to stop the lying. "Yes, it is."

"You not answering is going to raise some alarm."

"I'm afraid it already has."

Addison shifts in her chair and narrows her eyes. "You're really not going to kill me, are you? You're not even going to hand me over to this guy."

"I told you I would protect you and I will."

"Why? And don't hand me the 'you're the anchor' excuse."

Hiding and deflecting has become second nature to him that he has to stop himself before he answers with a rote reason. Honesty, that is what she is looking for, what she needs from him right now. "I will tell you my story but not here, not out in the open."

"You're running too, aren't you?"

Her tone confuses him. Instead of being accusatory, she sounds almost sad. "I am."

"Fair enough. You tell me your story when you're ready." She finishes off her beer and starts to stand up. "I was wondering if maybe you could help me figure out a little mystery."

"Of course." It's an olive branch and he grasps it as soon as it's offered.

"But first," she points to the phone, "you have to get rid of that. I don't know how tech savvy this guy is but he might be able to track that phone with a GPS locator."

Gadreel hasn't thought about that. Technology still confounds him at times. "What do you suggest I do with it?"

She glances around the bar before picking up the phone and dropping it into a half empty water glass on another table that hasn't been cleared yet. "The water will short out the circuitry and hopefully disable the GPS."

"I will remember that for the future."

He hopes it works and that Metatron won't be able to find them for the night. He stays close to Addison as they walk through the dark parking lot. He doesn't see any angels lurking about that doesn't mean they're not there. As soon as they're in the room, he draws sigils on the door, curtains and walls of the room.

"I'm glad we paid for the room in cash."

Gadreel smiles as he caps the marker. "I can make them disappear before we leave and no one will know."

Addison retrieves the old canvas duffle bag and puts it on the bed. She has been protective of the bag ever since she uncuffed him in the basement early that morning. Only she carries it, opens it and peers inside. He's left it alone completely, never even offering to carrying it for her despite the weight of it. It's Addison's and he leaves it at that. The fact that she trusts him enough to open it and show him the contents causes his chest to constrict uncomfortably.

"This was my Aunt Jen's. She left it to my mother who in turn, left it to me. I don't know what it means and I thought maybe you might."

She pauses slightly before unzipping the bag. She trusts him but not completely, he can see that in the corner of her mouth and her downcast eyes. It strikes him how similar they are, scared and alone, tossed out into a world they don't understand. He doesn't know who to trust and neither does she so they will have to trust each other. He stands back, giving her a wide open space as she starts to pull a variety of objects out of the bag and lays them out on the bed in neat rows.

The fact that the majority of them are familiar to him makes his palms itch. Salt, lighters, knives, a couple machetes, bullets and a couple guns. "Your aunt was a hunter."

Addison frowns as she drops a stack of books on the bed, emptying out the bag. "No, I don't think she hunted a day in her life. My Dad did though."

He searches the memories of his vessel for another meaning of hunter and understands what Addison is saying. "Not hunting game. Hunting things of a supernatural nature."

She laughs nervously. "What, like ghosts and goblins?"

"Yes." He remembers how Sam would have a list in his mind that he would set on repeat whenever he and Dean when on a hunt. The monster was listed first, followed by the method of destruction. He steps up to the bed and points to the various the weapons, recalling that list to his own mind now.

"Ghost, salt and burn. Werewolf, silver bullet. Vampire, decapitation. Shape shifter, silver knife." She trusted him with these things and it was time to match that trust. He pulls his own weapon from inside his coat and lays it on the bed with the other things. "Angel blade. It'll kill both angels and demons."

"My aunt was a hunter." Addison pulls out one of the chairs at the table by the window and sits down heavily. "Is that what Dean and Sam are, hunters?"

He sits down across from her. "Yes, they are."

She opens up one of the leather bound journals and starts to flip through the pages. "You're right. These are instructions she wrote down on how to get rid of these…things. Dates, places, monsters…every page of it."

"Your Aunt was a brave woman then."

"Or crazy."

"Says the woman who is an angel anchor on the run with a fugitive angel."

A brief smile tugs at the corner at her mouth. "True." But the smile quickly disappears when she pulls out a loose, folded up piece of paper and opens it. "What did you say Dean and Sam's last name was?"

Suddenly he's afraid to answer. Her eyes are glassy, her hands trembling. He can't see what the paper says in front of her but it is something that is causing her distress. The truth, though, he must answer with the truth. "Winchester."

"That's what I thought." She smoothes the paper out and slides it across the table to him. "Please tell me this is a coincidence."

He reads the top heading of the paper, "Birth Certificate." The name of the child born is Addison Jean Palmer. The mother was Jennifer Palmer, the father John Winchester. Once again, he shuffled through Sam's memories that lingered in his mind and confirmed John Winchester was indeed Dean and Sam's father.

"It's not a coincidence, is it? They're my half brothers, aren't they?"

The truth is going to shatter her illusion of her family. If he confirmed her suspicions, she would lose her mother, father and brother all over again. Her parents weren't her parents. Her twin brother wasn't her second half. The aunt she never had a chance to know was now a mother she could never know and her father was a complete stranger. He picked the wrong day to start telling the truth.

"Yes, they are."

She looks at the birth certificate again and folds it once more, tucking it back into the journal. "Is that why you wanted me to stay with them?"

"I did not know of your relation at the time. I just knew they are good and honorable men."

Addison nods slowly before standing up and putting things back into the bag. "I think that's enough crazy for tonight."

As much as it pains him to throw away his chance at redeeming himself, he has to do the right thing. "If you wish to go back, I will take you back to them."

She shakes her head solemnly. "Blood doesn't make you family. It just makes you related."

He wants to ask her to explain the statement but refrains. She's distressed and rightfully so. He stays silent and helps her repack the canvas bag.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five: The Past**

"_I have been talking of the past (your past and mine) only in order that you may turn from it forever. One wrench and the tooth will be out. You can begin as if nothing had ever gone wrong." - C.S. Lewis_

Jael is completely out of sorts. She has never taken a vessel, never confined herself to a human body. The Rit Zien's are known to be the smaller of the angels but what they lack in size, they make up for in power. Even though her vessel contains her well enough, she still feels constricted.

The worst part of fall, other than the broken wings, is listening to angel radio. So many of her brothers and sisters were injured, damaged and crying out in pain and confusion. She had been too wounded herself to go to any of their aid at first. Then when she was healed up, she had to track down as many Rit Zien's as she could find to prevent another incident like Ephraim's rampage from happening again. Add the finding of Addison Weaver and making an anchor out of her, Jael actually finds herself content to explore Addison's home.

Sam seemed curious about the missing photos in the living room and so Jael starts the search for them. Castiel and Dean were out talking to the community about Addison and any place she may be hiding. Sam is upstairs monitoring any and all financial data that might pop up. But Jael knows it's going to be a few days before anything solid to track comes their way. She followed Addison for two weeks, the girl is highly intelligent. Broken, but intelligent.

She finds a box of framed photos in the basement and since it is one of the few boxes without dust collecting on it, she assumes she's found the missing pictures. She carries the box up the stairs and sets it on the end of the table where Sam has set up his computer.

He stands up and stretches. "Did you find them?"

"I think so." She starts to take a few out of the box and set them on the table. "It looks like it's just of her parents and brother though. No other family members."

Sam flips through some that are still in the box. "It's worth a shot though. You mentioned something about picking her because of her bloodline. What bloodline is that exactly?"

Jael almost drops the picture she is holding. He doesn't know that Addison is related to him and Jael isn't sure how to go about telling him. Thankfully she's saved by Dean and Cas who return noisily through the front door and make a bee line for the kitchen. Sam's still waiting for an answer from her so she greets Dean and Cas instead.

"Did you find out anything?"

"You could say that." Dean pulls a couple of beers out of the refrigerator, hands one to Sam and opens his own. "Apparently, we have a sister."

Cas continues the explanation. "We met with a store owner who had hunter symbols on the door and he told us the whole story. There was a hunter who lived not that far from here, a Jennifer Palmer. She kept her lifestyle a secret from everyone, including her family. She came across a nest of vampires and needed some back up so she sent out a call which John Winchester answered."

"Good ole, Dad," Dean chimed in. "Nine months later, Addison Jean Palmer is born. Two months after that, Jennifer gets taken out by a vampire that survived the year before. But Jennifer had a sister, Cynthia Weaver, who had just had a kid of her own."

"Addison's 'twin' brother," Sam concludes.

Dean nods. "Yup. Cynthia and her husband raised the two of them together as if they were siblings so Addison wouldn't know what really happened to her parents."

Sam turns to Jael. "Is that why you didn't answer my question about what bloodline Addison is from? Because you already knew she was a Winchester."

"In my defense, I thought you and Dean were already aware of her relation to you."

"What made you think that?"

"You showed up. I thought you were coming to protect and collect her."

"And you would have just let us do that?" Dean asks. "Pack her up in the back of Impala and ride off into the sunset?"

"With my coming along to properly explain the matter and help her through this, yes." Dean openly scoffs and Jael looks to Sam. "Why wouldn't I do that?"

"Our interactions with angels usually don't go smoothly."

"Why am I not very surprised by that?"

"Any financial movement yet?" Dean asks.

Sam shakes his head. "No, not yet. My guess is they're either driving through the night or they paid cash somewhere. I don't know if we're going to find them this way. All the tricks we know about flying under the radar, Gadreel knows. If he wants to go underground, he very well could."

Dean sets his beer down on the kitchen counter. "Here's the real question of the day. Does Addison know who she really is?"

Jael shakes her head. "No, she doesn't. Which is imperative that we find her. If she finds out on her own, there's no telling how she is going to handle it."

"Well, if she is a Winchester," Castiel says, "she'll handle it just fine."

Sam raises his beer. "And it might be Gadreel's safety we need to be concerned about."

Jael hopes that the momentary good humor will last but not distract them from finding Addison. An angel anchor had never been made before and there were so many unknown factors concerning it. There are too many things that could go awry and Jael didn't want to a massacre on her record thanks to Addison being unable to control herself.

* * *

They are on the road before the sun has broken over the mountains. Addy barely slept through the night, her mind trying to process too many things. Angels, long lost brothers, staying on the run from those who want to kill her or use her. It makes her head hurt and her stomach knot. She needs to focus on something else, something mundane.

"So what did you do last night while I was sleeping?"

Gadreel glances over at her briefly. "I found a book in the dresser drawer and read the majority of it."

"You read a phone book?"

"No. The Bible."

Addy tries not to laugh. "Aren't you an angel? Don't you already know what's in there?"

His hands tighten on the steering wheel. "I was detained for most of the events found in that book."

"Detained? Doing what?" He doesn't answer her and Addy understands that detained wasn't used to mean busy but rather he was locked up. "I'm sorry, forget I asked."

They drive for almost two hours before Gadreel stops to refill the car. Addy gets out and goes into the small connivance store to stock up on snack food and other necessities. She sees postcards and touristy knick knacks that have "Yellowstone National Park" emblazoned on them. So they were heading west now. She goes outside to find he's parked the car in the corner of the lot and is sitting on the hood, looking at the scenery. She hands him one of the two cups of coffee she bought and joins him on the hood of the car.

"Welcome to Yellowstone National Park. Well, the outskirts of it anyway."

"The terrain in this country differs greatly depending on where you are."

"That's one nice thing about living in this particular part of the world. There are many different landscapes to choose from. Mountains, beach, plains. Hell, you can even live in a swamp if you want."

"And what landscape do you enjoy the most?"

Addy thinks about for it a moment. She has always loved the outdoors, the wildness of nature. It was difficult to choose. "There's this little town in California, not too far from San Francisco, called Olema. It's in an area where there are hiking trails through forests and you can see the rolling hills that are inland. But you can also drive half hour and be on the rocky coastal beaches. It's a little bit of everything and I like that. What about you?"

He shakes his head slightly. "It does not matter to me. I like open spaces. Whether they are filled with trees or mountains or nothing at all, I enjoy it all."

Addy keeps her mouth shut. She is dying to ask him about his past, what great crime he committed that sentenced him to be imprisoned. From his desire for open space, she can only imagine how long and terrible his imprisonment had to have been. It seems as though he picks up on her thoughts because when he speaks again, it takes her completely off guard.

"I allowed the Serpent into the Garden."

She can't figure out if it's code for something or if it's to be taken literally. "I don't quite understand. Are you talking about Eden?"

He's no longer staring out at the scene in front of them but rather directly into the cup of coffee. "I am. I let Lucifer into Eden."

"Why did you let him in?" Addy wraps her hands around her cup and keeps her tone as flat as possible so he won't think she is being accusatory. The distress in the line of his shoulders and tension in his jaw told her she was one of the very few people who have ever heard the story first hand. Quite possibly, she's the only one who has listened to it from start to finish.

"Lucifer had not rebelled yet, not completely. He told me that he had spoken to his Father, repented and asked for restoration. In order to attain it, he was to befriend the humans. Live among them for a period of time to show the change of his attitude towards humanity. I checked with other angels to confirm if it was true and they repeated back the same story as Lucifer had told me. I did not know that their loyalty was to Lucifer already."

"So you let him in."

He grimaces. "I did more than that. I showed him the entire Garden. I showed him the trees and the flowers and the animals. And then, I took him to the humans and left him there. I thought…"

"You were putting the family back together. And they locked you up for that?" If that was true, then he had been locked up for more time than Addy cares to count.

"I destroyed humanity."

Addy feels tears pricking the back of her eyes. He sounded completely despondent as if he were the one who set out to destroy Paradise. "You offered your help to restore a fellow angel. It's not your fault he lied to you."

"I believed him."

"So did Eve. So have a lot of people. You may have been the first one Lucifer lied to but you certainly aren't the last."

He looks close to tears himself but they're held at bay from sheer confusion. "My mistake destroyed the world. How can you not be angry with me? Everything that is wrong with the world, the war, death, illness, that is because of what I have done."

And in that moment, Addy realizes she is looking at herself. The car accident that took her family happened on the way back from a celebratory dinner for her acceptance into graduate school. If she hadn't asked to go, her family would still be here. But she didn't know that was going to happen, just as he didn't know what Lucifer was planning. They were different sides of the same coin. Perhaps that is why they survived their ordeals, to help each other. He promised to protect her and she will remind him daily that mistakes can be forgiven.

"Look out there. Look at the mountains and the meadows. There's probably wildlife we can't even see roaming around down there. Does that look like a destroyed world to you? Look at those people over there, buying gas, getting coffee and going about their day. They look relatively happy, don't they? Sure, there's pain and suffering in the world but it would have happened sooner or later. If Eve hadn't taken the fruit, one of her descendants certainly would have and we would still be sitting here on the hood of this car having this same discussion."

"It was not my intention to upset you."

Addy wonders what he means but realizes that she is crying quite steadily. She hastily wipes at her face and jumps down on the hood of the car. "Give me the keys."

"What?"

"The keys, give them to me."

He looks resigned as he hands her the plain metal ring with just two keys on it. Addy throws her coffee cup out in the dumpster beside the building before getting into the driver's seat. She adjusts the seat and looks up to see Gadreel is still standing outside the car, still under the belief that she is leaving him behind. She rolls the window down and shouts to him.

"Are you getting in or what?"

He lurches forward and gets in the passenger side. "I do not understand."

"We need a day to regroup, reassess things. We need a day to relax." Addy puts the car into gear and pulls out of the gas station. "We're going to spend the day in Yellowstone. We're not going to be a scared angel anchor whose life just got tipped on its head or the angel who broke the world. Not today."

"Then what are we going to be?"

Addy rolled his window down as well and turned on the radio, cranking up the volume. "We're taking one day to be happy and enjoy ourselves. I think we deserve that. Besides, if Sam and Dean are tracking us, they're going to expect us to run as far away as possible. Putting on the brakes and blending in with some tourists might shake them."

"You are not angry with me?"

It breaks her heart to hear the disbelief in his voice. That he's surprised she didn't leave him behind in a fit of disgust and rage. She swallows her tears and watches for the signs for the park. "Of course I'm not angry with you."

He's quiet for a few moments before he reaches for the map in the back seat. "This Olema you spoke of. I would like to see it."

Addy smiles for the first time in what feels like forever. "I would like to show it to you."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six: Alliances **

Addison offers to drive when they leave the National Park to find dinner and a place to sleep so Gadreel agrees. It gives him time to actually look at his surroundings before the sun disappears and appreciate seeing the world once more. The park hadn't been very crowded due to it being "off season" according to Addison but he wasn't quite sure what that meant. And honestly, he didn't care. He had spent a day not having to maintain a false persona or keep meticulous track of details so his subterfuge wouldn't be discovered. His original crime is known and forgiven by his companion. He can breathe.

It has truly been his first day of freedom.

As lost and despondent as Addison had been, he had been surprised to see her change as the day moved forward. Grief still clung to her and would bow her shoulders and dull her eyes at times but for the majority of the day, she saw nothing but beauty before her. Her descriptions of wildflowers covering the meadows particularly fascinated him to the point of wondering if they would be able to return at the proper time to see them in person.

"May I ask you something," Addison breaks the silence. "If you don't want to answer, that's fine."

He braces himself for the accusations now. She's had a day to think over what he has done and the end result is not going to favorable. But he had this day and he intends to treasure the memory of it. "Go ahead."

"Everything that you saw today, was there anything like that in Eden?"

There is only curiosity in her voice and he releases the breath he had been holding. He hasn't allowed himself to dwell on Eden without the shame and guilt tainting it. But Addison has given him a reason to remember it in its perfection. "It was much more untamed than this. Trees, ferns, flowers of every imaginable color were everywhere. And the animals were just as numerous as the plants. The Garden was a different climate than this. It was more," he searches through his vessels knowledge and pulls the word from there, "tropical. "

"Tropical? Really? Most Biblical scholars think that the Garden was located between two rivers in the Middle East. Not exactly a tropical climate there."

"I am afraid to inform you that the Garden was not on Earth proper."

"Where was it then?"

"In another dimension, I believe that is the term you would use."

"Trippy."

"I do not know what 'trippy' means but the Garden itself was beautiful. I have yet to see anything that resembles the perfection of that time. The park that we were in was enjoyable to see though. There are remnants that can be seen in your world as it is today."

"I guess when you're used to perfection, everything else pales in comparison."

"I would not say that. Yellowstone holds a different beauty, but it is all to be enjoyed."

Addison seems to perk up at his statement. "So you enjoyed yourself today?"

"Yes, I did." Humans are chaotic messes, and Addison is no different, but Gadreel still hasn't lost his affection for them. Thaddeus tried to beat it out of him, to drive the fascination and compassion he felt towards these creatures from his being, but Thaddeus had failed. The realization that he is still able to hold onto those feelings brings more satisfaction to him than running the blade through Thaddeus' heart. Perhaps that's what Abner had meant when he showed distaste for Gadreel's act of revenge.

"Well that's certainly not a happy face."

"My apologies. I was thinking of a friend."

"A friend? Why didn't you say something before? Where are they? Can they help us?"

"I am afraid he cannot help us. I doubt he would be willing even if he was able."

"If he's your friend, I'm sure he'll be willing to help."

"He is dead, Addison. I was told he was a threat to Heaven and ordered to…" he can't bring himself to finish the statement. Perhaps now Addison would see the need for her to find another angel to guide and protect her. He just wasn't fit for a job as important as guarding the anchor.

"You killed your friend because someone ordered you to?"

"Yes."

"Was it the same asshole who told you to kill the Prophet?"

"And you. Yes." He feels the change in Addison's demeanor as if it were a thunderstorm rolling across the plains. Her good natured mood has clouded over and anger grows in its place.

"Rule number one down here: if someone tells you to kill people, they're not the kind of the person you want to be around. Anyone who wants you to harm someone or something else isn't worth your time. Do you understand me?"

"Yes."

"Good."

Addison's anger burns out quickly but still simmers on the surface. He can see the traces of it in her grip on the steering wheel and the line of her jaw. For some reason though, she doesn't seem angry at him. Because of that, he's brave enough to ask a question. "What do you think of hunters, such as Sam and Dean and your mother?"

"That's different. What they do is either self defense or they're defending other people who are being attacked. They fight for the people who can't fight for themselves. If you want to defend Heaven, you fight against the person who kicked you out and closed the place down in the first place."

He's about to ask her how they would go about fighting Metatron when a set of headlights crest over the hill in front of them. The car is driving erratically, weaving across the entire road with no consistent trajectory. Addison slams on the brakes and pulls their car over to the side of road.

"Get out and away from the road as much as possible!" she shouts to him as she jumps out of the driver's seat.

He follows her as she slides down the small gully alongside the road and jumps a fence into a field. They stand in the field until the car passes and by some miracle, misses their car completely. He turns to make sure that Addison is unhurt only to find her bent over and retching in a bush. Confusion gives way to understanding when he remembers it was a car accident that put her in a three-year coma. Of course she would find this deeply upsetting.

Comfort, she needs comfort. He had been able to find it within himself to care for Abner, he could do the same for Addison. He waits for her to straighten up before letting his fingertips brush against her elbow. She doesn't pull away as she wipes her mouth with the sleeve of her coat.

"Sorry."

He curls his fingers around her arm to steady her as they start to walk back up to the still running car. "I will drive the rest of the way."

"Alright," comes the shaky answer as she leans into him periodically during their climb out of the gully.

When they reach the car, the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and he senses something that he had hoped not to encounter for a few days at least.

Angels.

"Get in the car and go."

Addison is still pale but shakes her head. "What? No. What's going on?"

He pulls out his angel blade and tries to push her around the car, back to the drivers side. "You need to leave quickly."

"Not until you tell me what's going on!"

"Allow me to fill in those details," a strange voice says from the darkness.

Gadreel tries to keep Addison behind him but a circle of angels have surrounded them on all sides. The one who spoke steps into the light from the headlamps of the car. He makes a motion with his hand and the car's engine stutters and shuts off. The angel's face is scarred and haggard, as are most of his followers. Addison has pressed herself close to his back and he can feel her tremor with fear.

"There's no need for weapons," the strange angel says. "We're only here to talk and offer some...assistance."

"What kind of assistance?" Gadreel asks.

"Protection for one. There's a lot of angels out there looking for that little girl cowering behind you."

"Who are you?"

He laughs easily. "Where are my manners? I'm Malachi. And you are Gadreel, aren't you? The original anarchist."

He doesn't know how to respond that so he stays quiet.

"Are you going to come with us willingly or are you going to make this interesting?"

There are too many of them, almost twenty by his count. He's still too weakened to properly do battle against so many. It was also possible for Addison to become injured in the cross fire if he did choose to fight. So he made the best decision for her he could and dropped his blade.

Malachi smiled. "Willingly it is."

* * *

Sam finds the police report online of an abandoned black sedan on the side of Route 26 outside of Yellowstone National Park. It's been two days since Addison high tailed it out of Denver so it wasn't far fetched that this was the car. The next morning finds him and Dean flashing FBI badges at the precinct in Idaho Falls, the closest town from where the car was found. Thankfully, the officer on the case was more than happy to hand over the file and the car to them.

"Found some weird stuff in that car," he tells them over a cup of coffee at the local diner.

"Like what?" Dean asks.

He slides the file over to Sam, who opens it to find photos of the car and the contents of the trunk.

"There were three bags in the trunk," the officer continues. "Two held clothes, normal stuff. But the third, the canvas one, had all kinds of weapons in it. Machetes, knives, guns, journals with pentagrams and talk of ghosts. As if finding an abandoned car on the side of the road with no sign of anyone around it isn't freaky enough."

"Well, it's our freaky problem now," Dean says.

The officer shakes their hands and heads out to his patrol car as Jael comes into the diner and takes the recently vacated seat. "Well? Is it them?"

Before Sam can answer her, Dean closes the file. "Our case, sweetheart, not yours."

Jael's eyes narrow. "If you really want to get into a pissing match with a Rit Zein, by all means, Dean Winchester, let's do that."

"I've taken on a lot of dicks with wings, a Rit Zein too, so yeah. I'm more than up for a pissing match with you."

"Addison Weaver is the anchor, the anchor I created. She is my responsibility. You want to hunt down Gadreel, that's fine. You have my word I will not get in the way. But as long as Addison is with Gadreel, I'm coming with you."

Sam has had enough the bickering back and forth between them. Jael is determined to find Addison and quite frankly, Sam is thankful for having another angel on their side. "Fine. You're coming along until we find Addison."

"Sam-"

"Dean, look. You still need to find Abaddon and finish her off. Swing back to Denver, pick up Cas and go finish that. Jael and I will look at the car and see if we can't figure out what happened to Addison and Gadreel."

"And you're okay with that plan?"

"Yeah, I am."

Dean gives Jael a glance and shakes his head. "Well, I'm not okay with that plan."

"We're running out choices here. Addison needs to be found. Gadreel needs to be dealt with. Abaddon needs to be killed. We can't do it all."

"Actually, it works out quite nicely," Jael interjects. "You have Castiel and Sam has me. An angel for each of the Winchesters."

Dean scowls. "That doesn't make me feel any better."

Jael straightens her glasses. "I heard you were the one that dealt with Ephraim so you know exactly what a Rit Zein is capable of doing to a human. If I had any intention of harming you or your brother, I would have turned you both into a red mist and gone after Addison myself. You don't trust me, get over it. We're fighting the same fight here and I would appreciate a little respect."

Whatever response Dean had was cut off when his phone rang. Sam figures it's Crowley and not Cas when Dean gets up from the booth and steps outside.

"You really don't have a problem with working with me?"

Sam looks over at Jael and shakes his head. "No, I don't. You're right. If you wanted us out of the way, you would have done that by now. Which makes me wonder why haven't you gone after Addison by yourself?"

"I'm not very good at this human thing. It was easy to track her when she was unconscious and then to follow her around her hometown for two and half weeks. But now that she's god knows where, I just don't know what to do. You, your brother and Castiel are my best chance at understanding how this world works and how I can use it to find Addison."

"So you've never taken a vessel before?"

"Never."

"I have to say, you've doing pretty good for your first time on earth."

Jael smiles, a genuine smile but Dean returns to the table before she can say anything.

"Well, that was Crowley. He found Abaddon. And then Cas called. He said there's some chatter on angel radio that Malachi is the one who snatched Addison and Gadreel."

Sam straightens up in his chair. "So, what do we do?"

"You really okay with going off with her?"

"Yeah, I am."

Dean shrugs. "Fine then. I'll grab Cas and meet up with Crowley and you go with Miss Angel Medic and take care of Gadreel."


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: **I just wanted to thank you everyone that has followed this story and left reviews! It really makes my day when I see people following and reviews are always a wonderful treat! Thank you so much for reading! I hope you continue to enjoy the story!

**Chapter Seven: Bonded**

Addy twists her hands together to keep them from fidgeting. She understands why Gadreel didn't want to fight that many angels but she wonders what their chances would have been if he had fought. The place that Malachi takes them to is another burnt out husk of a building in a practical ghost town. There is no help nearby for them even if she was able to get away. But what unsettles her the most is that they've taken Gadreel somewhere in the massive building and left her alone with Malachi.

"It's not much but we angels have other things on our minds than luxury."

Addy keeps her mouth shut as she looks around the almost empty room where he brings her. There is a desk, a broken down couch and a couple of metal chairs. It's a meeting room, nothing more. She figures she better say something. If he talks, she might have a chance at figuring out how to get out of this situation."So what things are on angel's minds these days?"

He opens a small refrigerator and pulls out a beer, holding one up for her but she shakes her head. "Depends on how much you know, anchor."

She wanders the perimeter of the room looking for a window or second door. She looks for things that she can use as a weapon even though she has no idea what can hurt an angel. "I know that all the angels were cast out of Heaven. That's about it."

"There's a war going on down on the ground. Some want to go back, some want to stay. Those that want to go back though have different ideas of how to go about that."

"Yeah, what's your idea?"

"I'm looking at her."

Addy pauses in her walk. She did not like the sound of this. "I hate to tell you but I'm fairly useless."

"On the contrary, you're far from useless. You're the key to get us back up in the sky I'm betting."

So he didn't know exactly how she fit in with opening up Heaven. "I'm a foothold for dead angels to cling to until Heaven opens up. Like I said, useless."

"How many angels are tethered to you?"

She shrugs. "Not a clue."

He laughs. "Useless and clueless, huh? Anything I can offer you to get you to talk?"

It's an opening and she takes it. "I want my angel back."

"We can get you a better one than that angelic waste of space. Trust me, you're better off without him."

"He's the angel I want. You want me to be cooperative, you give him back to me."

Malachi's good humor fades and he sets the half-finished beer bottle down on the desk. "You're under the wrong assumption here, little girl."

Addy tries to maneuver away from him as he advances towards her but he's moving too quickly. Before she can even think of an escape plan, he has her pinned against the wall by her throat.

"I'm willing to work with you, anchor, but you've got to work with me."

She tries scratching at his hands that are holding her neck but it doesn't seem to even phase him. She looks over his shoulder and sees another angel in the room, an angel that hadn't been there before. She gasps when she recognizes him: Gabriel. Malachi turns around but apparently doesn't see him when he turns back to her. She must be closer to passing out than she thought.

"You show me some fancy tricks," Malachi says, "and I'll let you visit your angel."

Gabriel leans against the wall she's pinned against. He's fuzzy looking, not as real as when she was dreaming. "Oh, we're going to show him a trick. Anchor lesson number one: being a conduit for angelic power. Tell him to let go."

Addy swallows forcibly. "Let…me…g-go."

"Or what?"

"Put one of your hands on his forehead," Gabriel instructs and he places one of his hands on her shoulder.

She lets go of Malachi's hand and places it on his forehead just as Gabriel told her. Immediately, she feels a rush, almost like ice, flowing through her veins. It gives her the sensation of being of doused in a mountain stream, cold and tingling at her nerve endings. Fascination and horror wash over her as a bright light shines out of Malachi's eyes and mouth. Just as suddenly as it happened, it's over. Malachi is prone on the floor, his eyes sightless, smoking black holes.

"What…what happened?"

She turns to where Gabriel was standing but he's no longer there. She's not unconscious so of course she wouldn't see him. Except now, she isn't sure what to do. She just killed the leader of this rough-looking angel gang. She doesn't know the layout of the building. And somewhere, they have Gadreel.

The sound of footsteps outside of the door push her to action though. She sees the handle of Malachi's angel blade under his coat and she snatches it up just as the door is kicked open. She has no idea how to wield the thing but she stands at the ready nevertheless until she sees who it is. She has to stop herself from crying in relief.

"Sam!"

Sam takes in the scene with a confused look on his face but comes to her side quickly. "You alright?"

"I don't know." She's shaking so badly her teeth are chattering.

He takes off his jacket and puts it around her shoulders. "Alright. Let's get you out of here then."

She starts to hand him the angel blade but he closes her hand around it. "No, you keep it. I have my own, see?"

He holds up his blade and Addy numbly nods her head.

Jael is waiting in the hallway, a blade in her hand too. "We don't have much time. Malachi's followers will be on us soon."

"Gadreel," Addy's stunned mind starts to kick over once more. "We can't leave him here."

Jael's mouth twists in half a frown. "Don't suppose you know where he is?"

"No but I would assume it's not pleasant. Malachi didn't speak very highly of him." Addy doesn't like the silence that follows her statement. "You don't want to rescue him. You want to leave him here. They'll kill him if we leave him behind!"

Jael looks over at Sam briefly. "He hasn't exactly endeared himself to the Winchesters. You can't ask Sam to risk his life for someone who has done personal damage to him and his brother."

"Fine, then I'm asking you. Please, help him."

* * *

Jael knows that Sam Winchester would like nothing better than to throw Addison over his shoulder and walk out of the building, calling it a day. But she also knows that Sam isn't the kind of person to knowingly abandon someone, even Gadreel, to a fate of torture. But her main concern is the anchor's safety and she will promise to stop the world from spinning if it means getting Addison out of danger.

"Alright," she agrees. "But you need to leave with Sam now and let him get you to safety."

"And you're going to take on how many angels by yourself?" Sam asks.

"I may have been wounded in the fall but I still have enough power to take out these thugs. Get her out of here."

Addison reluctantly leaves with Sam and Jael breathes a sigh of relief. Rit Zein's are naturally drawn to pain and suffering so finding the room where Gadreel is being kept isn't a difficult task for her. She's able to sedate the few wandering angels that cross paths with her. They'll wake in a few hours with no repercussions. Depending on how many angels are in the room with Gadreel, she may be able to get away with sedating them if there's only a handful. If there's more than five, she'll have to fight.

The door is unlocked and she opens it with caution. There is only one angel there, bloody blade in hand. Jael sedates him with a wave of her hand and steps over his prone form to reach Gadreel. They have him chained upright to pipes but the chains are the only things holding him in the standing position. He's a bloody mess with one eye swelled shut and he's barely conscious. But when she reaches for him, he jerks away from her with more force than he looked capable of possessing.

"Addi...Addison?"

"No, it's Jael."

He shakes his head and spits blood out of his mouth. "Find Addison. Malachi-"

"Addison is fine, she's with Sam."

He sags against the chains. "Good. Leave me."

Jael's certain she's heard him wrong. "What?"

"Leave me here. You take Addison. Better off...with family."

Jael almost does as he wishes. He's right. No matter where they go, angels were going to come down on their heads. Gadreel was a marked man and weight around Addison's neck, one she didn't need. But Jael recalls in the look in Addison's eyes when she made Jael promise to save Gadreel. If she returned without him, Addison would be in an even more fragile state than she already was. The poor girl had lost enough.

She reaches out again and he closes his eyes, expecting her to end him most likely. And she has to admit, it would probably be the most humane thing to do. But she doesn't. She knits the wounds back together, closes the slashes to his skin and restores the left side of his face. He's still bloodied and his clothes are a mess that could be sorted at a later time. She fights with the chains and with his help manage to get him freed. He picks up a discarded angel blade before following her out of the building.

When they reach outside, she walks back to where Sam had parked the car she is using, an SUV from Addison's garage back in Denver. Sam is standing outside, at the ready but he relaxes when he sees it's her. Jael notices that Sam's grip on the angel blade tightens when he sees Gadreel but other than that, he remains emotionless.

She had told him that if Addison was as attached to the former guard, he would need to temporarily put aside his differences to get Addison to safety. And by the way Addison was trying to get a good view of Gadreel, Jael realizes this is going to be a much more difficult situation then she anticipated.

"Get in the backseat and don't say anything," she cautions Gadreel who does exactly that.

Sam walks in front of the car, his face thunderous. "I thought you said you weren't going to get in the way. That you only wanted Addison and you would let me handle Gadreel."

"First of all, put the blade away."

He grits his teeth but complies. "Fine."

"Secondly, I'm afraid the only way to keep Addison safe and relatively happy is if she continues moving on with Gadreel. They've bonded."

"Bonded?"

Jael is surprised at Sam's lack of knowledge of angel bonding consider that is what happened to Castiel and Dean. Perhaps Castiel never went into specifics. "There are certain angels who are assigned to certain humans. It's arraigned that way because bonds need to form between the angel and the human. It isn't something that we can fully explain but it happens. When the bond is formed, it's virtually unbreakable until either the angel or the human dies."

"And he's bonded to Addison?"

"It appears that way."

"How do you know?"

Jael pushes her glasses up her nose. "He was almost dead when I found him and the first thing he asked me concerned Addison and her safety. Then he told me to leave him there and send Addison back with you and Dean. Angels don't normally put humans before their own interest. Even angels who care about humanity in general, you put them in chains and torture them to the brink of death, they will save themselves every damn time."

Sam still looks unconvinced.

"Look, I know you were tricked into the possession. I know he made poor choices while being in you and you have every right to run him through with a blade for what he took from you. But I'm telling you if you do that, you'll be hurting Addison in the long run. I can't find another angel that will selflessly protect her like he will."

Sam's shoulders drop. "You're certain he will protect her?"

"To his dying breath." Jael sighs. "Killing him isn't going to bring the Prophet back or change the fact that you didn't know what exactly you were consenting to when you said yes. All those things are already set in stone. If you do kill him, Addison will be exposed, hurt and even more distrustful of you. And between you and Dean, you've got the best shot at earning her trust."

"We're going to travel with them?"

"No, not exactly. We'll trail them." Jael smiles. "I've heard a lot of talk about the famous Winchesters and their hunts. It would be nice to see one up close and personal. I'm sure you'll find some things to keep you busy. As long as we're within a day's drive of them, that should be safe enough."

Finally, Sam nods his head albeit reluctantly. "Fine. That's what we'll do."

Jael climbs into the front passenger seat of the car and hides a smile and just how quiet Gadreel and Addison are in the backseat until she looks in the back and sees Addison is sound asleep against Gadreel's shoulder. Sam gets behind the wheel and starts back down the road to Idaho Falls where they parked the impounded car in front of the hotel room they had for the night. Sam is still not comfortable with the plan but he keeps his silence and tries to temper his displeasure at the situation.

Jael has to hand it to him, he's a much better man than he gives himself credit for being.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight: Prayers**

Addy isn't surprised when they reach the hotel that things are handled quickly and efficiently. Her belongings are already in the back of the SUV and Sam carries them into the hotel room for her. She follows him in while Jael and Gadreel transfer Sam's belongings to the black sedan. As soon as she's through the door, Sam shuts and locks it.

"Here," he hands her a cell phone. "You call me if you need anything. I mean that, anything."

He's sincere and worried so she takes the phone and puts in her pocket. "Okay."

"If you're ever in a situation where you can't give me details but you need help, just say 'Poughkeepsie.' There's a GPS tracker on the phone that I can activate from mine and I'll find you."

"Gadreel isn't going to hurt me."

He clenches his jaw but releases it quickly. "I get that. I know."

"Am I really in that much danger from other angels?"

"Possibly. I don't really know. There's many factions and they all want different things." He pauses and his protectiveness gives way to curiosity. "Do you know how you killed Malachi?"

Addy sits down on the bed. "I don't really know. Whenever I pass out, I see an angel. He tells me some things about what I am and what I can do. Malachi was choking me and the angel showed up. He said he was able to use me as an angelic conduit and had me put my hand on Malachi's head. I remember him lighting up from inside with a white light and then he just dropped to the floor." She shivers at the feeling of the cold that had crept into her bones when that had occurred. "I don't know exactly what it was that happened."

Sam sat down on the second bed across from her. "Did this angel tell you his name?"

"Gabriel. He said he was Gabriel. He's about my height, light brown hair, smart ass."

Sam laughs. "Yeah, that sounds about right. You should be able to trust him."

"So you think it's him?"

Sam nods. "Only an archangel would be able to take out Malachi that way. And since there's just two archangels who are dead and I think it narrows it down as to which one will help. Gabriel can be shifty so listen to his wording very carefully."

"Will do."

Addy gets up and opens her mother's hunting bag, pulling out the journal. She's not sure if she should even bring this up but she's curious. Sam may not take well to finding out he has a half sibling but she won't know unless she tells him. So when she sits down again, she tells him of her Aunt Jenn, the mysterious bag that was left to her and how Gadreel explained to her what a hunter was and the use for some of the weapons she had. Lastly, she pulls out the birth certificate and hands it to him.

Sam takes it, unfolds and reads it with a satisfied nod. "We, uh, we actually found out about this before we left Denver. The guy who runs the smoke shop on East Avenue had hunter signs in the window and he knew the story. We didn't have proof, just rumor."

She takes the birth certificate back and puts it back in her journal. "Is that why you came to help me? Because I'm related to you?"

"No, I would have come regardless whether you were related to us or not. We were afraid that Gadreel was going to kill you like he was told to do. But the car being abandoned with everything still in it threw us for a curve."

"Yeah, well, not dead. Just tired and confused."

Sam smiles. "And channeling archangels and smiting angels."

Addy returns the smile. "You're taking having a half-sister very well."

His good nature fades. "Well, we have another half-sibling out there, a brother. Adam Milligan. We didn't exactly look after him like we should have."

"What happened?"

He looks like he's about to tell her but stops. "It's a long story. One that I can tell you later over the phone or skype."

"Skype?"

"We brought your laptop with us. It's in your bag."

"Thank you." The sudden urge to sleep overtakes Addy and she forces back a yawn. She had thought she lost family only to find she had unknown relatives. She wanted to get to know them, to have a brother again brought more comfort than anything else that had happened in the last two and half weeks. But Sam's leaving and she's forced to sort things out herself.

Sam laughs and stands up. "Alright, bedtime. You get some sleep but I want a phone call or a text everyday from you for I'll come looking for you."

"I can do that."

"And the help word?"

"Poughkeepsie."

"Good."

She stands up and walks with him to the door. "Thank you, for everything."

He gives her a brief smile before unlocking the door and heading out. Addy waves at Jael and Sam as they take the black sedan and drive off into the night. Gadreel emerges from the shadows when the taillights disappear down the road.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She turns to look at him and sees his face and clothes are still bloody. "You look terrible."

He steps in the room and Addy locks the door. "I will ward the room and then change."

Even though Addy wants nothing more than to collapse on the bed and sleep for the next three days, she can't stop staring at the blood that covers the majority of Gadreel's face. He willingly laid down his weapon and walked into a torture chamber in hopes that it would ensure her safety. She goes into the bathroom and fills the sink with warm water and some soap. It's not much but it's the least she can do for him.

"You should sleep," he says coming into the bathroom. "I can do this myself."

Addy stubbornly shakes her head. "Sit."

He does as he's told and Addy begins the task of washing way the layers of blood.

* * *

Gadreel knows what is to feel so completely helpless in a situation that the first chance you have to focus on someone else, you take it. He had spent seven hundred years caring for Abner so he could escape his own personal hell. Even though he could have done the task in a matter of minutes, he subjects himself to Addison's cleaning process. The scent of the soap stings his nose and the cheap washcloth is too rough but he finds comfort in watching her shoulders lose tension and her hands steady as the task progresses. She empties the sink and tries to clean the blood off the washcloth but gives up after a few minutes.

"I am so sorry."

He's confused about what exactly she has to apologize for. "I don't understand."

"If it wasn't for me-"

"They still would have found me and they would have killed me."

She's pale, dark rings under her eyes that are starting to fill with tears. "Why do they hate you so much?"

It is a question he had asked himself since the Garden. "Angels are creatures of extremes. Some are ruled by compassion, such as Jael. Others are driven by a sense of justice and duty like Castiel. Forgiveness and mercy are difficult behaviors for angels to grasp. It was our Father's place to extend those traits."

"And what drives you?"

He smiles slightly. "The need to protect precious and important humans."

Addison wipes away the tears that have started to fall but others quickly gather behind them. "I don't want to do this anymore. I don't want to put you in danger. I don't want to be important. I don't want…"

He doesn't know what to do with such a distressed human. It was easier to know how to comfort and heal a fellow brother, to be able to accomplish his goal in piecing Abner back together. Addison is different. The pieces are similar but the putting them back together is foreign to him. He doesn't know how fix her.

But his vessel, a compassionate man, does have experience with dealing with distraught people. Gadreel pulls on the memories of those instances and ends up hugging her. It must have been the correct choice because Addison grabs a hold of him with a fierceness as she continues to cry. They stay like that until her tears subside only because she has fallen asleep standing up and braced against him. He picks her up and carries her to the bed. He covers her with a blanket before taking up his protective, watchful position from the other bed.

This he knows how to do: sit calmly but be aware of everything. He can hear what is going on in the other occupied hotel rooms, the animals that are rooting through the trash in the dumpsters out back and the intermittent car that drives past on the highway. He pays attention to more than noises though and monitors any disturbances that would signal angels or demons or any other creature that might bring harm to Addison.

Everything is quiet though. Everything is calm. And Addison sleeps for almost a full twenty four hours. It's not until the following morning that she begins to stir. He keeps his post as she completely wakes up and stumbles into the bathroom. Only when he hears the shower turn on does he get up and find a shirt in the backpack she gave to him.

She steps out of the bathroom a half hour later, showered, dressed and her long, dark blonde hair braided. She packs up her things but there is tension back in her movements and in the lines around her mouth. It takes her a few times to finally speak whatever it is on her mind.

"Can you hear when people pray?"

"Of course. Angels are why prayers are answered."

She frowns slightly. "What does it sound like?"

"Depends on the prayer. Sometimes it sounds like they are shouting in your ear. Sometimes it is more a whisper. What is it that you are hearing?"

"It's just like a repetitive string of words that I can't shut off. 'Please, let me do this. Please let me go.'"

There was so much they didn't know about her being the anchor, so many things she had the potential to do. Hearing prayers is a basic angel trait so if she were to have any, this would be the most logical one for her to have. "Do you know where it is coming from?"

"How do I figure that out?"

It comes so natural to him he has to stop and think of how to explain the instinct. "Close your eyes and concentrate on the words. Tell me the images that you see in your mind."

She closes her eyes and her forehead furrows. "It's the top of a building in a city. It's not a big city. Fairly flat land, really large hills in the distance."

"Focus on the building."

"It's...a medical type building. A hospital. St. Luke's."

"Good. Now, think about the city."

She grits her teeth. "B...Boise. Boise, Idaho. That's not too far from here, is it?"

He follows her details to confirm their accuracy even though the prayer seems to be directed at her specifically. Besides, his listening in to "angel radio" as Dean had called it, could alert other angels in the area to his location. It could be a trap. It could be another angel setting them up to kill them both. But Addison is looking focused and determined. She needs a distraction now, something else to focus on other than the situation she finds herself. She had repeated that she didn't want certain things last night but answering a prayer, this he can tell she does want. He picks up their bags and heads for the door.

"We will go to St. Luke's in Boise." If it is a trap, then he will have to fight his way out of it. Jael coming to his aid was a fortunate occurrence that he was certain would not happen again. He will make sure that Addison is armed with as many things as he can give her before they step into the hospital.

* * *

He stands on the edge of the hospital rooftop, the wind whipping at the thin hospital gown. He's been standing there for hours and he wonders why no one has come to get him or even cared that he's gone missing. He wonders why he even cares. He fought every step of the way but he's so drained, so exhausted from the fight, that he can't take that next step that will end it all for him.

And dear, sweet God (if there is one) does he want it to end.

It felt as if eons had passed in that cage. The violence, the torture, the boredom. It was enough to drive a man insane and according to his medical chart, it had. He had been found along the side of a road almost a month ago, caked in dirt and screaming. He won't let anyone touch him, he can't. His skin feels blistered and shredded from hellfire. His soul partial twists inside of him and he feels like if he can tear himself in two he will find relief. But he's not strong enough to do that. So a plunging fall off the hospital roof will have to do. Except he can't get his feet to take that last step. He's teetering on the edge and just won't tip over and enjoy the free fall to peace.

So Adam Milligan does the only thing he can do at this point and he prays to the angel inside of him and any others who will listen.

"Please, let me do this. Please let me go."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine: Bent**

Addy has a long talk with herself during her shower that morning. She didn't want this life on the run, danger lurking around every corner. She didn't want her guardian to be Heaven's most hated angel, especially when he had shown her nothing but kindness and self sacrifice. And as much as she liked the idea of having half-siblings and not being as alone as she thought, she did not like that they were separated for the time being.

It is fine to not like the circumstances and details but that doesn't change the situation in which she finds herself. She dresses that morning as if she is putting on armor. There is a war raging and she's part of it whether she wants to be or not. The time for crying and feeling sorry for herself is over. If an attack is going to happen, she will be ready for it.

She listens closely as Gadreel tells her tricks of hiding weapons in the folds of her clothes and the sleeves of her jacket. The angel blade she took from Malachi is to be kept with her at all times. She straps a knife to the inside of one of her boots and a small handgun in the other. By the time they reach St. Luke's Hospital she's half afraid to walk into the building, fearful that people can tell she's armed to teeth. But she mimics Gadreel's movements, smooth and precise and tries to forget the laws she's breaking.

They get into an empty elevator and Addy hits the button for the highest level they can go. "I'm going to guess that whoever is sending out the prayer is still on the roof."

"Are they still praying?"

"Yes."

The door opens with the emergency stairs right next to the elevator. Making sure no one is looking, Addy pushes it open and Gadreel silences the alarm with a wave of his hand. It is two flights to the roof and the door is already propped open. Gadreel stops her for a moment, most likely looking for anything that would alert him of an attack. She lets him step out onto the roof first before cautiously following close behind.

There's a man, tall and thin, standing at the edge of the building. Addy has to blink a few times because there are moments where it seems he glitches or goes fuzzy. She's not sure what that means and looks to Gadreel. She's surprised at the change in him. He is standing straight, tall and gives the impression of being immovable. His face is set and expressionless while his angel blade is gripped tightly in his hand.

"He's an angel?" Addy whispers as she draws her own blade.

Gadreel nods, never taking his eyes off the man. "I can not tell who it is though. He is hiding very deep inside."

The man turns around. His eyes are sunken with dark rings underneath of them, making his narrow face seem that much more skeletal looking. Addy can see he has given up and wants out of whatever lies before him. She knows that look all too well. But then his eyes flash blue and the desperation is replaced by contempt. The broken posture straightens and he steps away from the edge of the building but doesn't advance too closely to them.

"Gadreel."

The name is spoken so quietly that the wind almost carries it away before Addy can hear it. But that one word, how it is said, shifts everything between them. Gadreel seems to collapse in on himself, his shoulders fall and the grip on his blade slackens. His eyes are no longer on the other angel but rather lowered to the ground. The change makes Addy nervous and uneasy. She holds tight to her blade as she steps next to Gadreel.

"And you are?"

"Michael."

Addy picked the wrong day to start being a hero. "The Archangel? The Warrior?"

Michael nods. "And the one who cast Lucifer into the cage and," he turns to Gadreel, "put his little helper in Heaven's dungeon."

Addy waits for Gadreel to defend himself and when he doesn't, she does. "That wasn't his fault."

"Oh, I know the story he tells. I listened to it for hundreds of years. It doesn't matter. He had a job to do and he failed in it."

"He made a mistake!"

"Addison!" Gadreel hisses and pulls her back to where he stands. She wasn't aware she was advancing, blade raised at _the_ archangel of Heaven.

"Very defensive of an angel you know very little about."

"I know enough."

Michael laughs. "You humans never cease to amaze me with your indignation and sense of higher morality. You better watch yourself, I might mistake you for a Winchester."

Addy tries to hide her surprise at the use of that name but Michael catches it.

"So, there's yet another little Winchester waif out there. Well, that certainly changes things a bit."

Addy is beyond confused and Gadreel is too cowed in Michael's presence to be of any help. "We only came because the person you're in prayed for help. Does he need help or not?"

Michael takes a few steps towards them and Addy directly puts herself between him and Gadreel. She still holds the angel blade but makes sure not to raise her hand to him. She wants to be able to defend herself and Gadreel, not commit suicide-by-archangel. They're only standing a few inches from each other, staring each other down and finally Michael smirks.

"Maybe we can all help each other."

"How's that?"

"You're going to need protection."

"I already have it."

"You're going to need more."

"How's that?"

Michael's smirk disappears. "I just spent four human years locked in a cage with Lucifer. Now, I'm out. My vessel, Adam Milligan, is twisted in on himself and needs time to heal from the experience. I can straighten out his soul but it will take time. The real threat, however, lies in the fact that Lucifer is also out and walking the Earth now. The Apocalypse is back on schedule."

Gadreel finally finds his tongue. "Heaven is closed, to both angels and human souls. If the Apocalypse happens, all those who die will have no place to go."

"Then we better work on getting Heaven open before Lucifer comes looking for her."

Addy feels herself go lightheaded. "Excuse me? Why would Lucifer come looking for me?"

Michael presses his lips together in annoyance. "Dean was my true vessel and Sam was Lucifer's. I was going to kill Lucifer and re-establish the order of things. Perhaps it would be enough to bring our Father back. But Dean won't say yes and when Sam did, he was able to control Lucifer. But then I found Adam, Sam and Dean's half brother. Not preferable but still in the bloodline."

Addy's stomach rolls. "The Winchester bloodline."

"You're his only choice for a decent vessel that will give him a chance at winning this battle. Lucifer will come for you."

Addy turns to Gadreel who gives her a forlorn look. "I did not know about the vessel bloodline."

She believes him but that doesn't help them right now. "Great. Just another reason the angels will want me dead."

Michael looks surprised. "Dead? Why would they want that? You're able to tether them, keep them existing until Heaven reopens. They should be protecting you no matter what."

"Metatron wants her dead," Gadreel speaks up. "He will send angels to carry out the hit."

"Speaking of hits," Addy turns to her protecter, "you probably have one on your head now from him."

"Metatron?" Michael asks. "The scribe? I knew that was a mistake letting him out from behind his desk."

"So you'll help us?" Addy asks.

"If you're trying to open to Heaven then yes."

"We're just trying to stay alive at this point."

"Then it sounds like you need some help."

* * *

Gadreel can barely find the words to speak to Michael. He can barely find the courage to look at him. Before Eden had even been thought of, Michael had been his mentor, a friend. It was his friendship with the archangel that had gained him the reputation of God's most trusted. Metatron wasn't the only angel that God had plucked from obscurity and put into a position of power.

There was no question when Eden was created who was going to be placed as the guardian of it. Trained by Michael, his brother, Gadreel oversaw the entire the Garden and its inhabitants. He had been connected to it all. He could hear the plants breathe, blossoms opening and closing. He could feel the flow of the water and the imprints of Adam and Eve's feet in the soil.

But then Lucifer wanted to prove a point and Gadreel was caught in the middle. He can still remember the day when Eden's gates were shut. It was the equivalent to losing a limb or a sense such as sight. No longer could he feel the pulsing life surrounding him but he could hear his siblings outrage and hate. At first he thought it was all directed at Lucifer but he quickly realized it was his blood they wanted as well.

Then Michael came for him. His friend, his brother and his mentor. His face thunderous, his heart broken. Gadreel had tried to reason with him, explain what had happened when Lucifer approached him. He told him the story of reconciliation that Lucifer had given him.

"_Please, brother listen to me! This is not my doing!"_

But Michael had been silent the entire time he escorted Gadreel into places of Heaven that he had never seen. Light, sound, connections to his siblings were becoming more and more distant. It was only when they reached the cell door that Michael turned to him.

"_They wanted you in the cage with Lucifer. They want your wings and your grace on display. Father will not speak to us. Gabriel is missing and Raphael is behind the call for your death. This is the best I can do for you, because you are my friend." _

"_Death would be better than imprisonment. Give them what they want, Michael. I would rather be dead than locked away forever. Please, show me some mercy." _

"_I am being merciful." _

And so began the countless thousands of years of imprisonment and torture. He had resigned himself to never seeing Michael again. So when the archangel takes control of the vessel, he is shocked and suddenly reduced to the cowering angel who clawed at the walls begging for his closest friend's understanding and forgiveness.

He can still see the anger behind the vessel's eyes. He can still see the cracks in Michael's trust that he himself has put there. The guilt and shame that had disappeared with Addison's forgiveness and kindness come rushing back in force. He's barely able to keep up with the conversation and it takes Addison's gentle tug on his sleeve to bring him out of his thoughts.

"Hey."

He still can't seem to find words so he just nods in acknowledgement.

"We're going to find some scrubs for Michael and sneak him out of the hospital that way. Adam was studying pre-med so he can pull on that information to get himself out the door if need be."

"He is going to travel with us or with you?"

Addison gives him a look that he can't quite decipher. It looks to be either hurt or disbelief. Perhaps it's a mix of both. "With us. You think I would what? Trade up or some such nonsense like that? You promised to protect me and I'm holding you that promise."

Before he can find a suitable response, Addison has left the rooftop, no doubt to find the clothing for Michael. At the thought of the archangel, Gadreel lifts his eyes to finally openly looks at him. The vessel is tall, thin and he can see the strain behind the eyes. But the more he looks at the vessel, the more he sees the similarities between Adam and Addison's facial structure.

"How did you get out?" Michael asks him.

"The spell that Metatron used released the imprisoned angels."

Michael nods. "If the spell was to release all the imprisoned angels, that explains how the cage was opened then."

"Will Lucifer come for her? Will he do that?"

"Without a doubt, yes. He doesn't have any other choice concerning vessels right now. And I'm sure every angel knows she's the anchor and she's a Winchester. It's just a matter of time."

Addison returns and practically throws a set of scrubs and shoes at Michael. She still looks angry and upset so when she grabs Gadreel's arm and tugs him back into the stairwell, he expects her to yell at him but she doesn't. Instead, she takes a couple deep breaths before speaking.

"We're a team, Gad. You can't forget that."

He swallows down the relief he feels at her statement. She will not abandon him or leave him behind for another angel. She's given him the one thing he has been so desperate for all these years: trust. And he will not let her down.

"I won't."


End file.
